The Gov. García-Padilla administration is looking to broaden the scope of possibilities regarding the establishment of public-private partnerships, or P3s, through legislation that would allow smaller scale projects, P3 Authority Executive Director Grace Santana said.
The Puerto Rico Public-Private Partnerships Authority announced that the New Beginnings Juvenile Facility Project, also known as “Nuevo Comienzo,” will not proceed to the Request for Proposals stage.
In the next two months, the Puerto Rico Infrastructure Financing Authority (PRIFA) will open bids for construction projects totaling $62.5 million, agency Executive Director Grace Santana told members of the Association of General Contractors.
The Puerto Rico Public-Private Partnerships Authority board recently decided to move forward with the evaluation of four new construction priority projects, namely the commuter train from Caguas to San Juan, a new women’s correctional facility, a new men’s correctional facility, and the conversion to natural gas of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority power plants in San Juan and Palo Seco, government officials said Wednesday.
The Puerto Rico Public-Private Partnership Authority is currently reviewing 11 applications submitted by as many central government agencies and municipalities seeking to develop a variety of projects ranging from a women’s correctional facility to road extensions, requiring more than $2 billion in estimated investments.
Interest in the Novotrén commuter train connecting Caguas to San Juan is apparently strong enough that more than half a dozen firms are waiting in the wings to participate in the bidding process for the project whose cost is estimated at $400 million.
Grace Santana, who is pulling double-duty for the Gov. García-Padilla administration as head of the Puerto Rico Infrastructure Financing Authority as well as the Public-Private Partnerships Authority, is a firm believer that the private sector should take over the task of developing new infrastructure projects when the government can’t — but not take over existing facilities through long-term contracts.
David Álvarez, former executive director of the Puerto Rico Public-Private Partnership Authority, has been named a principal consultant in the strategic consulting group of Parsons Brinckerhoff, a global infrastructure strategic consulting, engineering and program/construction management organization.
Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste (ASUR), one half of the Aerostar Airport Holdings, LLC consortium that won the bid to take over the management and operation of the Luis Muñoz Marín Airport in Puerto Rico, said Wednesday it has obtained the necessary 139 certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration, and is ready to start modernizing the airport.
Saying his administration “will always keep its word and honor its legal responsibilities,” Puerto Rico Gov. Alejandro García-Padilla gave the final go-ahead to the public private partnership through which the government will pass the responsibility of operating and managing the Luis Muñoz Marín airport to a private consortium.
Saying the Puerto Rico Ports Authority has the authority to lease the Luis Muñoz Marín Airport in San Juan to Aerostar Airport Holdings, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration confirmed its approval of the public-private partnership that will officially transfer control of the facility to the consortium.
The Puerto Rico House of Representatives wrapped up nearly a month of probing the terms of the public-private partnership agreement proposed for the Luis Muñoz Marín Airport Monday with a scathing report that shoots down any benefit to the deal through which the government would turn over the management of the facility to a private operator.
Puerto Rico Ports Authority Executive Director Víctor Suárez said Tuesday the Federal Aviation Administration has been “rigorously evaluating” the proposed public-private partnership deal for the Luis Muñoz Marín International airport because “everything they express will become precedent.”
Moody's Investors Service announced Wednesday it has assigned provisional ‘Baa3’ ratings to Aerostar Airport Holdings, LLC's $350 million of senior secured bonds. The outlook is stable. Bond proceeds will be used to partially fund the acquisition of a long-term lease to operate the Luis Muñoz Marin Airport.
In about a week, the Federal Aviation Administration is expected to make its decision on the public-private partnership agreement through which the government of Puerto Rico would turn over the management of the Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport to Aerostar Airport Holdings for the next 40 years.
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